Back when guys were doing sprints under summer’s blazing heat and heavy weights were being snatched, pulled and pushed, this was the goal: a bowl game, and the bigger, the better, with the BCS national championship clearly the most coveted.

Alas, reservations for the big game in New Orleans are limited to two. But with spots in 35 bowls up for grabs, there is plenty of postseason opportunity.

And whether a team ends up in Boise or Birmingham, Houston or Hawaii, there is fun to be had everywhere, as most anyone who has ever participated in a bowl game will attest. There’s football, yes. There are extra practices and a chance to meet a team they’d probably never see otherwise.

But there’s more to it than that.

For those who scoff at bowl game saturation, exhausted by all of the directional posts that seem to matter to no one but strange title sponsors—come on, Beef ‘O’ Brady’s St. Petersburg Bowl? Little Caesars Pizza Bowl?—we offer a few examples from last season of why those games are memorable for the players.

January 3, 2011, Miami

Stanford 40, Virginia Tech 12

It’s not all football all the time at the BCS bowls, either. Each of the big games has a slate of off-field activities for the players.

At last season’s Orange Bowl, Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck showed the nation what everyone on the West Coast already knew: He’s as good as it gets. Luck destroyed Virginia Tech en route to earning the game’s most valuable player award.

But before the game, before he had to answer question after question about whether he would enter the NFL draft, Luck had fun in the sun on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean.

He and his teammates went jetskiing. They paddled around on kayaks. They swam and sunned and took it all in before turning their complete attention to the Hokies.

December 29, 2010, Houston

Illinois 38, Baylor 14

Before last season, Baylor had dwindled to a forgotten-about program. The Bears struck fear in absolutely no one. Then came a record-shattering season, a 7-5 finish and … a bowl game. Baylor was invited to the Texas Bowl (now the Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas) to face Illinois.

But the game was just part of the excitement. There was also the Rodeo Bowl at the George Ranch Historical Park, during which the teams competed in activities like calf penning and a calf ribbon pull.

“It was my first time getting up close and personal at a rodeo,” Bears receiver Lanear Sampson says. “Seeing my teammates go out there and compete was fun.”

Sampson stayed away from the most serious action. He wasn’t afraid he’d get hurt trying to rope a calf. He was just … afraid.

“I was just being cautious,” he says, laughing.

Laughing is something his teammates did while they chased calves and even tried to brand them with chalk.

By Sampson’s account, linebacker Matt Ritchey was the most adept.

“He was our leader out there, which I kind of figured he would be since he was one of those country boys. It was a great experience. I really wanted to go to a bowl game before I left here. Our goal was to win the bowl game—and that’s what we focused on—but at the same time we were having fun with our teammates.”

December 31, 2010, Atlanta

Florida State 26, South Carolina 17

Before last season’s Chick-fil-A Bowl, players listened intently as Rep. John Lewis recalled some of the stirring stories about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the civil rights movement.

For many players, the opportunity to visit the King Center and the historical Ebenezer Baptist Church, where King delivered fiery sermons, is the highlight of bowl week.

There was plenty to remember from the bowl, and from the lessons of historical significance, but South Carolina and Florida State will also remember competitions that had no bearing whatsoever on the outcome of the game. Take for instance the fierce go-kart competition, game show questions and even milkshake-making battles.

Ah, bowl season.

December 18, 2010, Boise, Idaho

Northern Illinois 40, Fresno State 17

Akeem Daniels is from Kissimmee, Fla. He never dreamed of going to Boise. Especially not in December.

But that’s where the Northern Illinois running back found himself last season. The Huskies were hurting by the time they made it to Idaho. The team had lost the MAC title game. Coach Jerry Kill had announced he was headed to Minnesota. And now this.

“Last year, we had a lot of people who didn’t want to go to Boise,” Daniels says. “Then, we found out the stuff we would be doing and everybody’s mindset changed.”

Rather than grumbling, the team was actually giddy. Daniels and crew got the most thrills riding on inner tubes down snow-covered slopes at Bogus Basin resort.

“It gave a lot of us who are not from Illinois or the north the experience of seeing all of that snow and playing in it,” Daniels says. “We weren’t thinking about getting hurt. We were just having fun and really enjoying our time with each other.”

This year, Boise’s bowl will be called the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl and will add a Spuds for Strikes bowling event for the players. Each team will bowl for two charities—one in Boise and one in its school’s town. The winner will donate 350 pounds of potatoes to each charity, the second place team 300 pounds each.